now, i haven't done babysitting in, uh, 10 years or something.. but i did used to like it a lot, seeing as how i like kids quite a bit. that liking kids plus the sympathy i have for the childcare needy (as i know what a tough time my sis has trying to find someone) led me to answer the ad. i met with the mom for a bit to talk and she said she'd call me sometime.

she got in touch today, saying she wasn't feeling so well so wanted someone to come watch him while she rested. so that's what i did. his name is joshua and he's two, and every bit the stereotype of a two-year-old; no wonder she needed someone to take over for a bit.

we had fun.. after we exhausted the possibilities of what to do inside - he threw the crayons around the room, tossed his stack of books on the floor, bonked his head on the coffee table, and i unsuccessfully tried to figure out how to work the dvd player - i put some shoes on him, undid the deadbolt, and went outside. (as a sidenote, the other lock was engaged, so i locked myself out - oops! but luckily the mom came to check on us so rescued me from having to stay outside for two hours with a cranky kid.)

it was actually quite a bit of fun. we did a neighborhood tour of plants and dogs barking in the window, and i pointed out lots of lizards to him. by the end, he was really excited about the little dinosaurs. "IZARDS!" (it made me think: tea & cake or DEATH!) when we went back inside, the little boy refused to take his shoes off in the hopes we'd get to go back out. you try changing a kid's pjs as he's wearing shoes. not an easy task.

but anyway, my point in all this is.. like, wow. two hours was quite a bit of fun, but he just did not stop; how could you keep that up all day? as far as i figure, if i have any munchkins, they'll be half me so will be very good little sleepers and will probably nap a lot, so that's a good thing.. but, damn. i brought a book to read tonight and had to laugh on my way home - what an optimist i was, thinking i'd have time to crack it open!

oh, by the way, in florida these days, babysitters are regularly paid in the $10/hour range. i got paid $25 for what turned out to be two hours. (we had agreed upon $8/hr, so i'm not sure why she gave me so much, but i ain't complainin'.) crazy, eh?

Holy shit!!!!! Ten bucks an hour???? Going rate in NY is approximately 5 bucks and guess what I charge? $2 at the most! I do this for a living :) It DOES get tiring...plus I don't get to get rid of mine at the end of the day! ;)

A small boy lived by the ocean. He loved the creatures of the sea, especially the starfish, and he spent much of his time exploring the seashore.

One day the boy learned there would be a minus tide that would leave the starfish stranded on the sand.

When the tide went out, he went down to the beach, began picking up the stranded starfish, and tossing them back into the ocean.

An elderly man who lived next door came down to the beach to see what the boy was doing. Seeing the man's quizzical expression, the boy paused as he approached. "I'm saving the starfish!" the boy proudly declared.

When the neighbor saw all of the stranded starfish he shook his head and said: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, young man, but if you look down the beach, there are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see. And if you look up the beach the other way, it's the same. One little boy like you isn't going to make much of a difference."

The boy thought about this for a moment. Then he reached his small hand down to the sand, picked up another starfish, tossed it out into the ocean, and said: "Well, I sure made a difference for that one!"